KINGSTON, Jamaica – Small farmers, the Maroons and Rastafarians are to be given special treatment in the ganja industry whenever the People’s National Party (PNP) next forms the Government.

That commitment was given on Sunday by PNP President Mark Golding at the party’s 84th Annual Conference at the National Arena. He said it was time for Jamaica to move beyond decriminalisation of the weed.

“The potential of this industry is vast but the Government does not seem to understand or believe in it. Time come to proactively empower and include small farmers in the ganja industry. They’re the ones who built and protected our knowledge system around ganja over a century of prohibition enforced by international interests,” Golding remarked.

“We must give them a chance to become part of the industry, the lawful industry so that they can make money for this country and for themselves,” he added.

Golding, who is also the Opposition leader, said the next PNP government will make the ganja industry fully inclusive.

Said the PNP president: “We will facilitate home-based production, integrating with licensed processors. We will lower the bar for small farmers to come into the formal industry. We will incentivise commercial and knowledge-sharing relationships with the well capitalised processors to achieve win-win outcomes for large and small producers. We will aggressively pursue markets for quality Jamaican medicinal ganja and we will legislate to create a comprehensive lawful ganja-based economy for the Rastafari community and the Maroons”.

According to Golding, the Maroons and members of the Rastafarian community “must be liberated to use and produce the ganja that they believe as a sacrament”.